(Slight aside: did you know morphine was named after the Greek God of Dreams, Morpheus, son of Hypnos, the God of Sleep? Cool.)

As for long term illnesses, I'm going to focus on purely medical ones, rather than long term issues involving addiction itself.

Many injection drug users do not use sterile technique and may share needles with other drug users. This has several consequences.

1) Heart problems. The dirty needle can "drag" bacteria living on the skin's surface into the blood stream. These types of skin bacteria have a penchant for infecting the valves heart. This infection is called endocarditis, and can gradually or acutely cause valve problems. A past heroin user might have damaged valves from a past endocarditis infection, which could later put them at risk for another endocarditis infection (say, after dental surgery), or heart failure (symptoms include shortness of breath, tiredness and fatigue, leg swelling and fluid build up in the lungs).

2) Hepatitis. Hepatitis B and C are blood-borne viruses that are easily transmitted via shared needles with an infected person. Both can cause cirrhosis of the liver (liver scarring and poor function) and eventual liver failure, as well as liver cancer. Symptoms of cirrhosis include fatigue, yellowing of the eyes, wasting of muscles, an enlarged abdomen from fluid in the belly cavity, reddish palms and little, spidery blood vessels on the skin, and occasional confusion. They can also have problems with vomiting blood or rectal bleeding.

3) HIV. The human immunodeficiency virus can be transmitted for the same reason hepatitis is. Carriers may be completely asymptomatic until the virus kills off enough of one of the body's natural infection fighting cells (the T-cells). When that happens (the lapse time can vary widely--2 week to 20 years), certain infections can take the opportunity to attack the individual (called opportunistic infections, or OIs). This is when the diagnosis of AIDS (Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome) occurs. These OIs include herpes, thrush (yeast in the throat), tuberculosis, and pneumonias, among others. They are also at risk of certain cancers, including lymphomas and Kaposi's sarcoma. Luckily, there are excellent anti-viral medications available today that are effective in controlling the virus, though there still is no cure or effective vaccine.

Okay, this post is getting way too long and I am getting flashbacks of working on the inpatient HIV/AIDS ward from my training. Whew.

There is a quote from the movie "The Crow" that is oddly fitting to close here, especially since yesterday was Mother's Day. The paranormal hunk a.k.a the Crow a.k.a Brandon Lee, says to an absentee mom/drug addict:

"Mother is the word for God on the lips and hearts of all children. Heroin is bad for you. There's a little girl on the streets, waiting for her mother."

Please keep in mind this post is for writing purposes only and is not to be construed as medical advice.

I love how things from ancient times (like the name of a god) affects words and names for things today. It's so cool to see the ripple effect through history. Also, yikes! All the long term illnesses from Heroin - just another reason why we should avoid drugs!

I have never really thought about the medical properties of heroin. This subject is really scary. I'm really glad you made this post, because it's important to keep reminding about the effects of this drug.

Thanks again for your thorough answer to my questions! It was especially helpful to know that most of the lasting effects for someone who goes clean are physiological rather than cognitive. You rock, Lydia!!

I always wonder how someone could try something like heroin knowing all the bad stuff that comes with it!I read the Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue and Sixx AM bassist)a few years ago. Actual diary entries of when he was addicted and afterwards. Bad news!

As a former drug abuse counselor, I know all too well the heartbreak and the medical chaos brought on my heroin addiction. And I have always loved that THE CROW quote. I would have been here sooner, but I put in an 18 hour straight day yesterday. I thought they outlawed slavery? But not in the health profession -- those hours are all too demanding. But you know that, Roland

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